When I don’t even know that I don’t know...

Sometimes I am amazed when I think about the things I did not know.

When I was a little boy, the only vegetables I knew were drumsticks, okra, eggplant, and bottle gourd. I did not even know that vegetables such as carrots and beets existed. My village was my world. Apart from one or two nearby villages, I knew nothing of the world beyond.

There is nothing surprising about that when I was a child. But even after I grew up?

Even after I was married, had two children, and watched them grow into adults, there were still many things I did not know.

We had a refrigerator in our home. It was only after eighteen years that I discovered there was a section in it called the freezer. Do you know why? In all those eighteen years, I had never once opened that refrigerator!

Here is another one.

I have been driving for many years. But only recently did I learn that cars have what are called blind spots.

That made me think.

The problem is not simply that I do not know what my blind spots are. The problem is that I did not even know that such a thing as a blind spot existed.

Not knowing something is a problem. But not knowing that we do not know is an even greater problem.

Could it be the same when it comes to knowing God?

We may have been Christians for many years. We may read the Bible, attend worship services, listen to sermons, participate in Bible studies, and be involved in ministry. We may even teach others.

But how well do we really know God?

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

The supreme purpose of God’s dealings with us is that we may know Him. This is not superficial, intellectual knowledge; it is an inward, intimate knowledge of Him.

This was Paul’s longing. Even after counting everything as loss, he still yearned, “that I may know Him” (Phil. 3:8, 10, 11). When he prayed for the saints, he prayed that God would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph. 1:17).

As I think about this, something else comes to mind.

As the Son of Man, Jesus’ knowledge of the Father was the basis of everything in His life.

To speak, or to remain silent?
To act, or not to act?
To go, or not to go?
To meet someone, or not to meet them?
To yield, or to refuse?
To reveal Himself, or to remain hidden?
To eat, or to fast?

His life flowed from His knowledge of the Father.

Should this not be the foundation of our Christian life as well?

We may have worship services. We may have Bible studies. We may have special meetings and conferences. We may have ministries of every kind. Yet, with all these things, is it not possible for us to know God very little?

Then how should we measure the value of our ministry?

By how many meetings we conducted? By how many people attended? By how much ministry we accomplished?

No.

Are God’s people growing in the knowledge of God? Is their character being transformed into Christlikeness?

That is what matters.

There were vegetables I did not know existed. I did not know what was inside the refrigerator in my own home. Even after driving for many years, I did not know that blind spots existed.

There may still be so many things I do not know.

It is the same when it comes to knowing God.

Instead of taking pride in how much we know, if we become aware of how much we still do not know, perhaps Paul’s longing will become ours too:

“That I may know Him.”